1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an alignment layer and a liquid crystal display having the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to an alignment layer having optical alignment characteristics and a liquid crystal display capable of widening a viewing angle by using the alignment layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A liquid crystal display displays an image by using liquid crystal. The liquid crystal display includes a liquid crystal panel that includes two substrates and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the two substrates. The liquid crystal is aligned in the liquid crystal layer, and the liquid crystal has a refractive anisotropy so that the transmittance of the light passing through the liquid crystal layer varies according to the alignment direction of the liquid crystal.
The alignment direction of the liquid crystal is adjusted by an alignment layer formed on the two substrates. In order to adjust the alignment direction of the liquid crystal, a rubbing process is performed. That is, a roller covered with cloth is rolled over the alignment layer to rub the alignment layer with the cloth. However, the rubbing force may be non-uniform according to the position of the alignment layer during the rubbing process, so the liquid crystal may be irregularly aligned.
Because the liquid crystal has the refractive anisotropy, the quality of the image displayed in the liquid crystal display varies according to the direction of the viewer. In general, the viewer usually watches the image in front of the liquid crystal display, so the liquid crystal display is operated to display the high quality image in the frontal direction. However, as the viewer moves to the side of the liquid crystal display, the image becomes distorted so that the image quality is degraded. Thus, the liquid crystal display has a viewing angle, which is a range of angles allowing the viewer to view the image clearly, narrower than that of other display apparatuses.